Editing Hekla (section)

==Reputation==
[[File:Hekla (A. Ortelius) Detail from map of Iceland 1585.jpg|thumb|right|Detail of [[Abraham Ortelius]]' 1585 map of Iceland showing Hekla in eruption. The Latin text translates as "The Hekla, perpetually condemned to storms and snow, vomits stones under terrible noise".]]
[[File:Olaus Magnus - On Strange Properties of Some Mountains.jpg|thumb|right|Illustration from [[Olaus Magnus]]'s ''[[Historia de gentibus septentrionalibus]]'', book 2, 1555]]
After the eruption of 1104, stories, probably spread deliberately through Europe by [[Cistercian]] monks, told that Hekla was the gateway to Hell.<ref name="HANVp4">Thorarinsson, Hekla, p. 4</ref> The Cistercian monk Herbert of [[Clairvaux Abbey|Clairvaux]] wrote in his ''De Miraculis'' (without naming Hekla): {{Blockquote|The renowned fiery cauldron of [[Sicily]], which men call Hell's chimney ... that cauldron is affirmed to be like a small furnace compared to this enormous inferno.<ref name="HANVp5" />|Herbert of Clairvaux|''Liber De Miraculis'', 1180}} A poem by the monk Benedeit from {{circa|1120}} about the voyages of [[Saint Brendan]] mentions Hekla as the prison of [[Judas Iscariot|Judas]].
In the ''Flatey Book Annal'' it was recorded that during the 1341 eruption, people saw large and small birds flying in the mountain's fire which were taken to be souls.<ref name="HANVp6">Thorarinsson, p. 6</ref>
In the 16th century [[Caspar Peucer]] wrote that the Gates of Hell could be found in "the bottomless abyss of Hekla Fell". The belief that Hekla was the gate to Hell persisted until the 19th century.<ref name="HANVp5">Thorarinsson, p. 5</ref> There is still a legend that [[witch]]es gather on Hekla during [[Easter]].<ref name="SI" />